


I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except All The Damn Time)

by uyuqi



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 50s New York, Aged-Up Characters, Best Friends, Character Study, Domestic Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Jeno calls Jaemin ‘Minnie’ and spaces out a lot., Kissing, Lee Jeno POV, Lee Jeno is Whipped, M/M, Musical References, Pediatric Surgeon!Jaemin, Romantic Fluff, Self-Indulgent, Slow Dancing, Soft boys being soft, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mentioned Homophobia, musician!Jeno, they are so in love it hurts, violinist!jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27698642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uyuqi/pseuds/uyuqi
Summary: Jaemin likes jazz and dancing to jazz.Jeno likes Jaemin (and finds jazz an insult to classical music).
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 42





	I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except All The Damn Time)

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by 'I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)', by Chet Baker, as the title suggests.
> 
> nomin feels hit me in the middle of the night and i decided that fuelling my violinist! jeno x surgeon! jaemin agenda was very necessary. this is my highly inaccurate, messy first attempt at writing an au (set in the 50s, at that!), so set your expectations real low and leave some constructive feedback, because reflection and improvement are vital in writing. 
> 
> this is for my fellow musicians and the lack of musician! jeno fics. someone’s got to feed us. 
> 
> i’ve used some italian musical terms in this work. the meanings are in the [end notes](https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/67788257#work_endnotes) if you need them! 
> 
> [I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)](https://open.spotify.com/track/4gFlHAye7To29Fs4UszQUH?si=oX5NU-iGRhGeKJM9UijIDQ)  
> [Chet Baker’s album](https://open.spotify.com/album/5JJ779nrbHx0KB2lBrMMa4?si=iEez3n2ETWe3-TRPp0zg3Q)

Jeno is not sure how they ended up like this. 

He vaguely remembers Jaehyun sending them a box of his old vinyl records because his new place could not hold them all, and Jaemin being all too happy to have received his brother’s extensive Chet Baker collection. Jeno does not fancy jazz, being a biased classical musician, but he would do anything to see Jaemin’s joyful smile, even if it took listening to disorienting syncopation and awful dissonance chords for hours on end.

On a Friday night in New York, Jaemin floats over from the balcony, glass of Tanqueray in hand and a dopey smile on his face. He asks Jeno for a dance, looking up at him with big, round eyes, reflecting the neon signboards that lay beyond their cosy apartment. Jeno thinks he would very much like to get lost in the oversaturated galaxy in his glimmering eyes, so who was he to turn down such an offer? 

Jeno agrees, as he does to most of Jaemin’s other antics, and Jaemin smiles, the stars in his eyes twinkling along to the soft clinking of the piano. 

He makes sure to shut the curtains first, mumbling something about not wanting the homophobic, gossipy old ladies in the opposite building to scorn two slow-dancing men. Jaemin tells him that they have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide, so they come to a silent compromise to leave a small gap open. 

The room is dim, faintly illuminated by whatever fluorescent red and blue managed to force their way through the sliver of space between their curtains, but Jaemin, Jeno thinks, shines pure and bright all the same. He taps his calloused fingertips along the dips of Jaemin’s spine, feeling the younger’s tendons shift with every light step, every cross of feet, and every graceful spin under Jeno’s arm. 

As the trumpet fades into the silence in a gentle _decrescendo_ , Jaemin lets his head fall onto Jeno’s shoulder, hand gripping the latter’s impossibly tighter, sending Jeno’s heartbeat into an _accelerando_ , in contrast. 

Being with Jaemin felt so right. 

And Jeno let him know so, lack of head-to-mouth filter a combination of an easily-flustered, gay heart, and an unsaid-mutual agreement to never keep secrets, especially if involving each other.

Jaemin chuckles, low and throaty, the sound making Jeno’s heart palpitate in _prestissimo_ , and he is certain the younger can feel his heartbeat beneath the dainty fingers on his chest. Jaemin presses their foreheads together, pulling them chest to chest, arms meeting at his waist. 

“Does this feel right too?” Jaemin breathes out, barely audible.

Jeno notes the way they fit against each other; with the same height and built, Jaemin’s long, pretty lashes tickling Jeno’s cheekbones, hot breath melting against his face, and their pelves brushing with the proximity. And Jeno wants _more, wants to be closer, wants them to be fused into each other’s skin and connected eternally._

But for now, it feels _very, very, very right,_ so he nods, and says exactly what he thinks.

Jeno cannot tell if it was the gin that made him bolder. His brain helpfully supplies that he has barely had a sip from Jaemin’s glass, and it was more likely the subtle implications behind their actions and the underlying messages beneath their words leading up to this moment that has gotten him frustrated, impatient, and head-over-heels in love.

No matter the cause, Jeno is still emboldened, bringing a hand to Jaemin’s cheek, running his fingers down the supple skin till they reached his narrow chin, pushing it upwards with his thumb to brush his lips over the other’s pink, perfectly-shaped _(albeit chapped)_ ones. 

_(If he were held at gunpoint and forced to name one flaw about Jaemin, it would be his lips, although he finds that they are more of beautiful imperfections, Jaemin being flawless. They made him even more lovely, a reminder of long days in the children’s ward, and short breaks only sufficient for putting more caffeine into his system.)_

Jaemin slots their lips together and Jeno is not certain kissing is supposed to feel like this. 

There is a lack of fireworks and wet smacking, nothing like those romance movies described, not that the heterosexual, Caucasian interpretation of love was anything similar to what they had,as a pair of Asian males. He also supposes kissing like that would be kind of really gross and icky, _and he would much prefer to kiss Jaemin like this and-_

Jeno snaps out of his daze and realises, _oh, in the good name of Paganini_ , Jaemin’s tongue is slipping into his mouth and his fingers are running along the grooves of his pecs and they are so unbelievably close it is making him dizzy with want. He lets his tongue dance with Jaemin’s, grabbing him by the shoulders, then the buttocks, then the face, so their silhouettes form one dark blob against the matte canvas of their curtains, individual bodies barely distinguishable. 

_It feels even more right._

There are tears running down Jeno’s cheeks now, which is funny because _he never cries unless he is angry, and he is most definitely not angry now, so why is everything wet and-_

Oh, _Jaemin_ was crying. His tears were glowing in the nighttime lights of New York City, tamed by olive green drapes. Jaemin was always smiling, even amidst the snot and constant trickle of tears and Jeno is equal parts jealous and awestruck that one could look that alluring while miserable.

“Jeno-ya, I’m leaving in a few days,” Jaemin chokes out. 

Jeno moves behind Jaemin, strong arms caging his waist in an embrace, and mumbles praises into the latter’s brown hair. 

“What are you sad about, Doctor Na Jaemin? Pediatric surgeon at just twenty-five? Invited to the UK for a research programme?”

“I’m not sure how I’ll cope without you there.”

“You’ll be away for two months. Two months is nothing compared to twelve years of friendship. And, if it makes you feel any better, my love, we will dance every night until you have to leave.”

Jaemin makes a sound of amusement, airy and light, a tinkling sound. 

“I told myself not to confess my feelings for you until after I return, so I wouldn't miss you more.”

“Would you rather leave with the anticipation of returning to a lover, or the dread of returning to long-harboured, yet unrequited love? You’re so strong, Minnie, you’ll get along very well without me.”

“As long as I am returning to you, Jeno, it is enough for me, even if that means returning to you having fallen in love with someone else.”

Jeno frowns. “That would wound you, don't be daft.”

“But if that means returning to a happy you, I would be more than okay with it.”

“Those are all ‘if’s, Minnie. I simply couldn’t fall for another. My eyes hold only you.”

Jaemin seems satiated with Jeno’s reply and pulls him down onto the couch, limbs in a tangle, to give him a small peck.

“Does this make us boyfriends, then?” Jaemin muses.

“If you want to put a label on us, then yes. But at our very core, we are just Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno, best friends of twelve years, roommates, co-parents of a Samoyed puppy named Pepper and 7 plants, named after various musicians.”

“I make breakfast for you in the morning, you pick me up from work at night. We could write whole novels with sequels and movie instalments about each other and have sworn to spend the rest of our lives together from age fifteen.. That knowledge is all that I need. I love you.”

“As do I.”

Jeno hears Pepper let out a low grunt, probably scoffing at her two humanoid companions having been lovesick fools for far too long, and maybe he is starting to fall into some sort of a lucid fever dream because there was _no way_ Schumann the peony (named after the female composer, not the male one) was swaying contentedly in the breeze watching them cuddle. 

Hopping off the couch, Jaemin runs to their shared room and slaps his bottom, wiggling his brows suggestively. Jeno thinks he looked absolutely ridiculous, but it is an action so uniquely _Jaemin_ , Jeno could not help but let out a small laugh.

“Now, what are you getting all emotional about, Mister Lee Jeno? Widely-acclaimed violinist at just twenty-five? You had better get over here and use those skilful musician fingers of yours ASAP!” he chimes, way too brightly for what the sentence implied, then disappears.

Bare feet against wooden planks, Jeno stands dumbly in his living room, olive green curtains fluttering gently. Jaemin pops his head out of the room and impatiently asks if Jeno is “even interested in getting some of this ass”. Jeno has to pinch the inside of his upper arm to confirm that _no, this is not some sort of weird dream_ , and _yes, the love of his life is equally smitten with him_. 

Jeno gurgles in response, too bemused to form a proper reply. He lets Chet Baker finish his monologue on a heartbreaking spring, then turns off the vinyl player and shuts the windows, but not before saying goodnight to each of their 7 plants individually and ruffling Pepper’s furry mane as she grumbles in her slumber. 

Not much else will be different from then on, Jeno reassures himself as he hesitates by the door. 

It was still Na Jaemin who loves strawberries but hates anything strawberry flavoured, who washes his face first and brushes his teeth last, who hates alcohol but likes feeling tipsy. Nurturing, affectionate, quirky Na Jaemin, who has an overwhelming love for children and life, making his choice of career easy, but the path to which, difficult. 

And no matter what life threw at them from then on, he and Jaemin would overcome together— **his** Jaemin, who has tended to his split calluses, sprained wrists, and post-performance burnout, **his** Jaemin, who he has held close and comforted after yet another child has died due to incurable disease. 

Home is where the heart is, and Jaemin has politely asked Jeno to hand his over, with a sweet smile, only to bound excitedly away with it stuffed in the back pocket of his Levis.

Jeno opens the door and slides under the covers. Jaemin squeals in pleasant surprise and comments on Jeno’s “music nerd suspenders”.

He is not sure at all, how they ended up like this,

But he _is_ absolutely certain he would not have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback is welcome !! kudos and praise make nice bonuses <3  
> [curious cat!!](https://curiouscat.me/uyuqii)
> 
> if i were to write another story set in this time frame, would you read it? it might or might not be related to this work. my need for 50s boyfriends!nomin has not been sated. so i’m contemplating turning this into a series, but that’s highly dependent on how free i am....
> 
> (side note: i find "minnie" cuter and more endearing than "nana" ><)
> 
>  **musical terms:**  
>  decrescendo — gradually getting softer (in terms of volume/dynamic)  
> accelerando — gradual increase of tempo  
> prestissimo — very, very fast. over 200 beats per minute (bpm). the fastest metronome setting.


End file.
